JAMAICA: Beneficiaries Receive Keys to New Homes

#Jamaica, February 27, 2018 – Montego Bay – Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, on Friday (February 23), handed over keys to contributors who have purchased one-bedroom units at The Estuary in Friendship, St. James.

The scheme was developed under a joint venture arrangement between the National Housing Trust (NHT) and West Indies Home Contractors Limited.  When completed, The Estuary will comprise 1,500 units and supporting infrastructure on 254 acres of land.  The development is being done at a cost of $7 billion, and is targeted at low income earners.

In his remarks, Mr. Holness said the NHT is on track to issue 8,000 mortgages for the 2017/18 financial year.

“This is the highest it has done in any decade. You can see that the Government is being very effective in using an institution like the NHT to create housing solutions for the people,” he stated.

The Prime Minister commented that the NHT was designed to promote formal home ownership in Jamaica, however “the challenge has always been to find a way to ensure that every Jamaican has access to this formal process”.

“I have made it a point of duty to come to all of these ceremonies, whether it is groundbreaking or handing over, to prove the point that the Government of Jamaica can use the resources at its disposal in an efficient and effective way to achieve Government policy and to deliver benefits to the people in a timely way,” he added.

Meanwhile, Mr. Holness has given the commitment that the roadway leading to the community.

“There are plans already in place for the roads to be repaired and this will happen in short order. And you will notice, that not just here, but right across Jamaica, that the National Works Agency (NWA), has been conducting an island wide patching programme,” he stated.

Release: JIS